Lincoln-Sudbury 3, Wellesley 0: Warriors Ayer it out in volleyball sectional final

Saturday night, in the Warriors’ Division 1 Central-West final matchup with Wellesley, senior hitters Mandy Sifferlen and Alex Braverman took care of the offense by combining for 24 kills, but it was the play of junior libero Jen Ayer that sparked L-S on its way to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-13) sweep at Hudson High, cementing the Warriors’ fifth consecutive sectional championship.

Year-by-year, not many girls volleyball teams in Massachusetts are better prepared than Lincoln-Sudbury.

Every season, veteran coach Judy Katalina makes sure that her team’s offense, defense, passing, and serving are up there amongst the state’s best in each aspect of the game.

Saturday night, in the Warriors’ Division 1 Central-West final matchup with Wellesley, senior hitters Mandy Sifferlen and Alex Braverman took care of the offense by combining for 24 kills, but it was the play of junior libero Jen Ayer that sparked L-S on its way to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-13) sweep at Hudson High, cementing the Warriors’ fifth consecutive sectional championship.

L-S will meet South champion Barnstable in the state semifinals on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School. Wellesley finished 18-3.

"You know, we’re in a different gym and nerves always play a part in the beginning, but we settled down after a few points, made few great plays, and that settles everybody down and we just rolled from there," Katalina said after her team improved to 18-1. "Wellesley has some awesome players and they ran some good stuff on us, but we learned from it, made a few small adjustments, and everything worked out."

Added Katalina, "This match was all about Jen Ayer. Getting the pass, getting the dig, etc. She’s the commander of the back row. If we need something changed, I don’t make it as the coach, she makes it as the commander of the back row. She’s our anchor."

As a libero, offense isn’t exactly Ayer’s game, but she excels in pretty much every other aspect, as she showed against the Raiders.

Defensively, Ayer recorded 15 digs, most of them coming when she was diving for a ball or facing a powerful swing by a Wellesley hitter. She also had a few one-handed digs that she threw herself at, which kept plays alive, and allowed the offense to do its thing.

In terms of passing, Ayer was spot-on, as she was able to execute perfectly placed passes to setters Miranda Congleton (17 assists) and Jenna Dickinson (13 assists), which often led into a smooth offensive rhythm. At the service line, Ayer recorded four aces, which pleased Katalina, who mentioned that Ayer hadn’t been serving much recently.

"I’ve been working really hard," Ayer said. "This is my second year on varsity and I’ve become a lot more comfortable with the team now that I’m a leader. I’ve played club and I’ve played in a number of tournaments that have helped me get a lot better. Everything starts with the pass and it’s really important to get a good pass to the setter so that we can get a kill."

In the first game, the Raiders hung right in there with the Warriors. Wellesley actually held a 16-14 lead following an ace by Kira Zimmerman, but that’s when the momentum completely swung in L-S’s favor.

Page 2 of 2 - Following Zimmerman’s ace, the Warriors won 11 of the final 12 points, with Sifferlen getting the kill that put her team up a game to none. Sifferlen was a beast during that stretch, as she notched six of her team-high 15 kills, while Ayer also recorded a pair of aces.

"My girls were definitely nervous, but you know what it was, I made a last-minute lineup change and they were kind of a little hesitant," Wellesley first-year coach Alice Liao said when asked what went wrong during that stretch. "And you know L-S, they come out swinging. When they see you’re down, they’re going to keep up the pressure and that’s exactly what they did. They started stomping."

"When we’re behind, we kind of get more excited," Braverman said after tallying nine kills, 11 digs, and five aces. "That helps push us forward. When it gets exciting, you know you want to play better."

In the second and third games, L-S rode its momentum, jumping out to early leads of 12-5 and 11-5, respectively, and never looked back, with a Raider net violation closing out the match.